Shaq: (Kobe) had room to operate cuz I got 3 people on me. I coulda got 3 in a row w/ T-Mac. 2 w/ Vince. 6 w/ steph

[Sofia]

And Kobe only needed a decent big and went to 3 straight finals..

Boy, Shaq just won’t shut up.

He should just appreciate what the game has done for him.


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Isn’t that sort of Shaq’s point? Kobe needs a “decent big” to operate?

(fkn lol at Kobe fans continuing to talk down Pau Gasol 15 years later btw)

[BigGargamel]

I mean, he's not wrong. Shaq in his prime was that damn good

Yeah, people hate Shaq because he's a man baby, but he is on point. He was the reason the Lakers were that good.

[sikma42]

I mean, he's not wrong. Shaq in his prime was that damn good

Yeah, people hate Shaq because he's a man baby, but he is on point. He was the reason the Lakers were that good.

Can someone nail down his prime here? Bc he lost with Penny and didnt go very far in LA with decent teams.

People make it seem like he was dragging teams to the Finals like Lebron. Either he had a very short prime (which just happened to coincide with Kobe and the three peat) or maybe he really couldn’t just win with any all star guard.


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[Quattro]

Coulda had even more if he ate less cheeseburgers and worked on his free throws.

[BobbyPortisEyes]

Hate to say it but Shaq’s right. Outside of Wilt, the most offensively dominant player of all time.

[Quattro]

Wish the interviewer would have asked "what about Penny?"

[Jedi32]

How many would have Kobe won playing wirh Duncan or Garnett?

Now that would have been a sight to see. Kobe with Duncan is a crazy thought 3plus easily imo. Kobe and Pau went to three straight finals, so I see no reason why Kobe and KG wouldn't do the same.

[Masigond]

Can someone nail down his prime here? Bc he lost with Penny and didnt go very far in LA with decent teams.

People make it seem like he was dragging teams to the Finals like Lebron. Either he had a very short prime (which just happened to coincide with Kobe and the three peat) or maybe he really couldn’t just win with any all star guard.

Watch on YouTube

Shaq was already in his prime. Is it his fault when a rookie who is not a good long distance shooter fails to utilize the space given as he tries hard to be the man to win the game? What's so decent about that?

[red96]

I agree with Shaq. Who knows. If Shaq could have got along with any of those other guys that could have won more.

[sikma42]

Can someone nail down his prime here? Bc he lost with Penny and didnt go very far in LA with decent teams.

People make it seem like he was dragging teams to the Finals like Lebron. Either he had a very short prime (which just happened to coincide with Kobe and the three peat) or maybe he really couldn’t just win with any all star guard.

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Shaq was already in his prime. Is it his fault when a rookie who is not a good long distance shooter fails to utilize the space given as he tries hard to be the man to win the game? What's so decent about that?

So he wasn’t good enough? To take the shots himself or get buy-in from team/players to go another direction in those moments.

Long story short, series wasn’t won or lost on those shots. He just wasn’t good enough to drag them to the Finals. That team was worst then teams Lebron dragged to the Finals.


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[Blame Rasho]

And Kobe only needed a decent big and went to 3 straight finals..

Boy, Shaq just won’t shut up.

He should just appreciate what the game has done for him.


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Isn’t that sort of Shaq’s point? Kobe needs a “decent big” to operate?

(fkn lol at Kobe fans continuing to talk down Pau Gasol 15 years later btw)

At one point, Kobe had three double double threats on his starting line up when he got titles post Shaq and that gets glossed over.

Anyways, we know Shaq has always been an insecure man child. I am surprised it took him this long to say something like this.

Just looking at some of the replies here and those ones that will reply later, some will always have a tick to try to boost x player over x player. It is stupid, but stupid is what stupid does.

It is always funny seeing the stans, homers, haters and shills have their hissy fits. They will either marginalize x player to boost their player, or overrate x player to minimize other player.

[Masigond]

So he wasn’t good enough? To take the shots himself or get buy-in from team/players to go another direction in those moments.

Long story short, series wasn’t won or lost on those shots. He just wasn’t good enough to drag them to the Finals. That team was worst then teams Lebron dragged to the Finals.

That game was definitely lost on those horrible shots.

And you make it very easy for yourself by ignoring contexts and era dfiferences. I have a lot of respect for LeBron's performances, but the East was rather weak when he was doing that. This comparison is flawed.

[Roscoe Sheed]

And Kobe only needed a decent big and went to 3 straight finals..

Boy, Shaq just won’t shut up.

He should just appreciate what the game has done for him.


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Kobe was great, but to refer to Pau as merely a "decent" big man is greatly underrating him

[Jedi32]

And Kobe only needed a decent big and went to 3 straight finals..

Boy, Shaq just won’t shut up.

He should just appreciate what the game has done for him.


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Kobe was great, but to refer to Pau as merely a "decent" big man is greatly underrating him

He was more than decent but realgm does overhype him to take credit from kobe. Any other big who in 8 years prior to teaming with kobe was ROY, had one all star appearance and no playoff wins would be considered decent by realgm standards. Others will try to pull from his international record, but I'm talking nba track record here.

[ballzboyee]

Shaq has also called Kobe the greatest Laker, stated that you can't have discussion on the top 5 all-time without Kobe, and said he might win one championship without Kobe but not three. He's right on that last point. Shaq was in the league for almost 10 years before and had been swept by every finals team he saw in the playoffs. 0-4 vs Rockets, 0-4 vs Bulls, and 0-4 by Jazz 1998. Btw, Kobe was sitting on the bench as a non-starter when they got swept in 1998, and Shaq had two all-star guards in Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel starting in that series. Why couldn't he win with Penny, Eddie Jones, and Van Exel --- all all-stars on 60+ win teams?

If it's so easy, whey didn't Shaq threepeat with Wade? Speaking of which, why couldn't Duncan win back-to-back finals with a who's who of all-stars on this roster including theee HOF wings in Parker, Ginobli, and Kawhi or HOF center with Robinson? Throw in all all-NBA guys and All-Stars like Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley and also a ton of elite role players like Stephen Jackson, Richard Jefferson, and Danny Green, etc. Later in his career Duncan had Kawhi and Lamarcus Aldridge in their primes. All that talent, and Duncan never won back-to-back finals appearances in his ENTIRE CAREER. But Kobe did it TWICE and the second he did it he had no top 75 players on his roster other than himself.

Btw, why couldn't Curry threepeat without all the talent Warriors have signed in free agency? Teamed up with on of the greatest pure scorers ever in Kevin Durant and 2 x Finals MVP, but could not get it done on the threepeat. Why couldn't Lebron do it with with two other guys in the top five in PER in Wade and Bosh at Miami and throw-in HOF guard in Ray Alleni?

I guess it's all just luck on Kobe's part. He's just the luckiest player. For some reason, his teams with or without Shaq go to back-to-back-to-back finals, but he gets judged by some standard that all of these other players can't replicate despite playing with stacked HOF, all-star caliber lineups their ENTIRE CAREERS. None of these other players even came as close to threepeating as Kobe did twice in his career, and they had better players to help them. Kobe haters don't know anything about ball.

[Masigond]

He was more than decent but realgm does overhype him to take credit from kobe. Any other big who in 8 years prior to teaming with kobe was ROY, had one all star appearance and no playoff wins would be considered decent by realgm standards. Others will try to pull from his international record, but I'm talking nba track record here.

Judging by all-star appearances is quite harsh. The reason why Gasol was only nominated once during his time with the Grizzlies has many names: Duncan, Dirk, Garnett, Stoudemire, Marion, Webber, Stojakovic, Kirilenko... Some of the ATG forwards playing in his conference and equally important: Players who were quite popular and playing for better teams in often bigger markets. He was not that much worse than some of them, and under different circumstances he would have been nominated more often.

[Capn'O]

This big dummy. Kobe won two with a different big too. Big/wing combo has always been a winner. They needed each other and also won without the other.

[ReddoverKobe]

The discourse around Kobe has been unhinged since his death.

[wco81]

2001-2004:

Kobe with Shaq (7,957 minutes): 65.2% at the rim; 34.5% from three; 56.5% TS
Kobe without Shaq (3,757 minutes): 59.5% at the rim; 31.1% from three; 52.5% TS

Shaq with Kobe (7,957 minutes): 73.9% at the rim; 58.4% TS
Shaq without Kobe (2,391 minutes): 75.8% at the rim; 59.2% TS

Thing is, he probably doesn't bother to look up these numbers yet he knows it's true.

They probably discussed it in huddles at the time, give Shaq a touch and then kick it out and the other team will be in scramble mode, making it easier for Kobe to attack the closeouts.

[MrPainfulTruth]

Kobe is probably the second best player in recent history behind MJ. It does not matter how much certain parties try to tear his legacy and memory down will not matter in the long run. There was a recent story showing the connection between Klutch and Bleacher Report who also sh*t on Kobe in a recent top 100 list.

Noone outside of MJ and Kobe has consistently shown the ability to shift in to a complete killer mode. It does not depend on talent its a character treat. These guys were total pychopaths, which is exactly wht it takes to win a hard match.Despite all of his physical advantages and dominance, Shaq NEVER had it neither had anyone else after them. Dirk showed glimpses when he dominated the Miami superfriends and Jokic can get there. Noone else.